Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 20
दुर्वृत्तसुप्रवृत्तेश्च निवृत्तिकरणीं सुराः । दक्षिणोत्तरदिग्भागे कृत्वाऽसिं वरणां सुराः
durvṛttasupravṛtteśca nivṛttikaraṇīṃ surāḥ | dakṣiṇottaradigbhāge kṛtvā'siṃ varaṇāṃ surāḥ
Um Zügelung zu bewirken—schlechten Wandel zurückzudrängen und die Wohlgesinnten zu leiten—schufen die Götter diese Mächte. In den südlichen und nördlichen Bereichen setzten sie Asi und die Varaṇā ein.
Skanda (contextual, Kāśīkhaṇḍa narration)
Tirtha: Asi and Varaṇā (boundary powers of Kāśī)
Type: kshetra
Scene: A map-like sacred diagram: Kāśī in the center, with the southern boundary marked by a radiant sword-stream ‘Asi’ and the northern boundary by the river-goddess ‘Varaṇā’. Two groups of people: one turned back by a stern luminous force, another gently guided inward toward temples and ghāṭas.
FAQs
Kāśī’s sanctity is described as transformative: it restrains wrongdoing and stabilizes right conduct through divinely set boundaries.
The boundary-markers of Vārāṇasī—Asi and Varaṇā—central to Kāśī’s famed sacred geography.
No direct prescription; the verse underlines the value of entering and dwelling within the properly sanctified kṣetra.